Events for October 17, 2026 › An Orkney Climate COP 2025

Are there better options to current ro-ro routes? True ro-ro with more terminals and shorter and more frequent inter-island links? Expanded air freight to augment the inter-island air passenger service? Fixed links? Or a carefully-integrated mix? Howie Firth summarises the story of today's pattern and sets out questions. Prof. Aseem Kinra of Heriot-Watt University shows how transport is a system, with each element chosen to help the whole overall flow. A speaker from the Sustainable Aviation Test Environment (SATE) outlines new air freight options.

Houses in Orkney have quadrupled in price in little more than 20 years, with young people unable to find a home. School rolls are falling, with the population slowly becoming an ageing one. How many houses are needed? Luke Fraser draws on many years’ experience in Orkney’s housing sector to set out the figures. And in practical terms, how can Orkney gear up to build what’s needed? Stephen Kemp of Orkney Builders, a former president of the Scottish Building Federation, responds.

Could Orkney, today so dependent on the supermarket distribution system, become more self-reliant in food? UHI Agronomy and Agriculture Institute director Dr Henry Creissen highlights a range of possible new crops for humans and livestock. Gardener Ed Bollom describes the range of vegetables and fruit that can grow in exposed situations elsewhere, and the potential for expanding food-growing in all situations, from fields and gardens to pots and polycrubs.